Here’s a fact: You won’t find a place in your local town square where all potential buyers and sellers are sitting around unifying in an effort NOT to buy or sell anything in your marketplace….ain’t happenin!

Real estate is a personal life management event. People’s lives dictate whether they buy or sell given certain circumstances. Weddings, divorces, new babies, graduated babies, mother in laws, job changes, job losses; all contribute to housing market activity. Just because the market is soft(er) doesn’t dictate that people buy or sell due to the fact that their housing are dictated by their own wants and needs.

If your market is stagnant, and that is a possibility, look at your local statistics. Were there absolutely NO sales anywhere in your town for the last 6 months? If that is the case, you may have a real challenge if you are planning on earning a living selling real estate in that area alone. Factors like natural catastrophes, etc. do have an effect on real estate transfers, but if you aren’t getting buyers to buy or sellers to sell and there are actually recorded transfers out there, it’s time to buckle up and change your mind set to change your income.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1) Where is my attitude?

If you are buying into “it’s a lousy market and I can’t get any buyers to buy or sellers to price right”, it could be your attitude. Prices will always fluctuate up or down or even more down! You have to make the decision to be the professional and better yet be the EXPERT professional. It’s been said if you invest an hour every day on your craft in 10 years you will be an expert in your field. How much do you invest in your marketplace in the way of actually studying the trends, statistics, new construction starts, number of foreclosures, short sales, tax sales, etc.? I can bet that most agents do the minimum and simply scan the comparables and don’t invest in the deep due diligence that creates top level expertise in your distinct marketplace.

2) When you have expert level status, you can confidently be the leader in any transaction. Armed with solid facts and information, buyers and sellers are more likely to feel a level of comfort when their real estate professional truly knows the marketplace to guide them in issues like pricing, marketing, and negotiating. In a competitive marketplace, facts and knowledge convey value when working with potential buyers and sellers, and as a professional, you waste less time, energy and money by working with those prospects that respond to that leadership.

3) What kind of marketing plan are you relying on in a competitive marketplace?

The days of doing the minimum to get a property exposure is not nearly enough to get it sold. Dollar for dollar, sellers deserve to get the best marketing plan available if agents expect to be paid. Just putting a property in MLS and sticking a sign in the yard puts you in competition with the mundane. The questions to consider are:

“What am I doing that is better than or different from my competition to get buyers to buy and get properties sold?”

Are you implementing the latest tools, resources and programs to get properties well positioned in the marketplace? If you seek to be on the cutting edge to find better ways to get buyers attracted and engaged in a property you need to be doing activities that are different from when the market was much easier.

Tools like text-available 24/7 information from yard signs, virtual tours with participation and interaction trump simple photos on a soggy listing sheet in a brochure box. Buyers want attractive photos that engage them, yet many agents hang on to their basic cameras to simply fill the minimum of a photo for MLS to avoid penalties. That’s not fair to the seller, or the buyer for that matter! One agent in a small town in middle Tennessee has seen a 43% increase in sales simply because he is taking better photographs of properties than his lazy competition…..it pays to engage!

Brochure boxes have been replaced with systems that have accountability and trackability. Monitoring activity and response helps you define, refine and redesign your marketing efforts. That saves money and market time so properties get sold and the feedback and auto-response capabilities give the prospect immediate information while providing valuable automatic follow up services for the savvy agent that uses them.

4) Are you using any online media channels to attract, engage and service prospects 24/7 until such time they are ready to engage to buy or sell? Blog sites that offer information about neighborhoods. YouTube videos featuring real life testimonials help buyers make better decisions before buying a property or interviews with local vendors help agents bridge the gap for possible prospects and offer “link bait” to their blogs and websites. Yet many of today’s agents have limited or no interest in helping to connect with prospects using these popular internet channels. NAR reports that almost 98% of all property searches are done on the internet BEFORE connecting with an agent and over 67% are reported not having even a website! This kind of information indicates the customer demand to getting information how they want it when they want it and indicates agents need to provide web information if they expect to connect with prospects on the internet.

Change isn’t easy, but with change comes challenge and personal and professional growth. It’s time to do some things differently to make yourself more valuable to your customers and clients and you can win in any marketplace.

Identify & Obliterate Six Barriers to Your Success!

It’s the beginning of yet another year, and as many of us sit with pencil in hand we might be thinking…”Should I even bother to set new goals again this year…and if so… will it even make a difference?

At the beginning of every year we all start out at zero….and it seems daunting to look at next December and wonder how we are going to “get there”!  Will we beat this year’s numbers? Will this be the first year that you will really focus on success and profitability?

It’s all about what you do and how you do it…. but this time…differently!  We would all like for those goals to become a true reality!

Like every physical act, we start with a thought process; which leads to a vision or a picture of what we want.   The professionals that plan and implement their plan enjoy a different level of satisfaction and enjoy higher levels of success than those of us who fail to plan and hope for the best.

But visions are tough to come by if you don’t have a passion or purpose for your work.  No matter what your goal, if you have a vision, focus and a plan to get there, you still need the “fire in the belly” to deliver the end results.

So what you really need is a compelling purpose that won’t let you go astray.  The question is, “What is your “magnetic compelling purpose?”

Do you have a dream that is so all-consuming that you wouldn’t give up until you made it happen?  Perfect! That’s the kind of resolve that gets results.  

So back to those New Year’s Resolutions…

It is easy to get excited about resolutions in the early days of January, but to make it all work, you’ll need to decide if you are excited enough to get serious about the process and ultimately follow through to completion. 

It’s a fact that goals and resolutions barely have a chance to grow until we get them in writing, and when we convert those thoughts to document, we are on the right path to make them real and viable!

You’ll need to SEE them, SHOW them to others, or DISPLAY them on your refrigerator as a reminder.  When our resolutions are not written down they are much like the wind; here for the moment…then gone forever!

Here are six challenges that keep our resolutions from becoming a reality.  You might want to be aware of them to you can make 2010 your best year ever!

1. Lack of Clarity:  The more detail you attach to a goal or resolution, the more likely you are to follow through on it.  Describe it with whys (for the purpose of ..), whens (completion dates and interim progress dates), whats (including mention of your current reality, and what the end game will look like upon completion), and any other details that will help you vividly see the vision.  Don’t worry! You can’t overdo the detail!  Lack of detail equals lack of clarity.
2. Lack of Commitment:  When you are serious enough to write resolutions down and share them with others, it is your way of making a commitment to the process.  We simultaneously put the universe on notice that this is our intent.  Goethe said “The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.”  Your discipline to follow through demonstrates your continued commitment.
3. Lack of Belief:  Human behavior is the result of the human belief system.  If you believe your resolution is doable, believe you have a strategy to make it happen, and believe in yourself, you can’t miss.  If you are filled with doubt you will fail to go to the next step.  This is no time to be timid.  BE BOLD!  Share your resolutions with others! This helps reinforce your belief that you can do it.
4. Lack of Passion: Vision without action is hallucination!  Fire in the belly propels you toward action and results.  Step number one is having the courage to get started on your clarified resolutions. Get fired up! Get started! And Go for it!  Seeing even a small amount of progress is all it takes to inspire you to take the next step.
5. Lack of Congruence:  Your resolutions need to be in sync not only with your belief system, but also with your other goals, and your capabilities.   If it is too outlandish or unrealistic, the incongruence of it will short-circuit your belief in your ability to get it done.  It will be a non-starter.  Make it as significant as you can and still believe you can do it.
6. Lack of focus … Writing down clarified resolutions is the first step of an exciting process, if we can keep our focus.  Can you vow to stay focused on the vision?  Schedule specific follow through actions for specific times to help keep you connected.  The difference between high performers and mediocre producers is a focused intensity accompanied by the determination that you will not be denied!

Few people realize the power and potential which are derived from crafting one’s “Magnetic Compelling Purpose”.  During times of challenge like these, people tend to gravitate either toward scarcity or abundance.  The majority who go toward scarcity are focused on problems and the negative aspects of their existence.  Those who go toward abundance are more focused on possibilities and progress, and that prosperity consciousness is what inspires many people to take the actions that propel them into the next realm of their life.  It doesn’t matter where you went to school, or how old you are.  Freedom to excel in America is your individual birthright.

If you can articulate what your “Magnetic Compelling Purpose” is, put it in writing, and fine-tune it, you are on your way.  Serious resolutions and statements of purpose tend to cause one to behave the way the person they hope to become behaves.

Be courageous and take action today on your written plan for success in 2010 and beyond!   Then heed the words of my literary mentor, Orison Swett Marden, who said…

“Make every day a great day of achievement, because you never know when God might be watching, sizing you up for bigger things.”
 
Terri Murphy is an author, speaker, e-communication consultant, and author of 5 books, including her latest with Donald Trump. She is the founder and Pres. of WomensWisdomNetwork.com and serves as CIO of U. S. Learning in Memphis, and serves as one of the 12 GAME CHANGERS coaches for NAR. For more information or to book Terri call 1-877-211-6472 or visit www.BrokerAgentSpeakers.com

Yawn….Seems like everybody has something to say about starting a new decade…a new year. There are plenty of prolific writings about the excitement of starting anew….

It IS all about new beginnings – but it really comes down to the same thing; If you want change, you must want it bad enough that the pain NOT to change is more painful than making the change itself.

The question to ponder is ….

Am I becoming the person I wanted to be, living the kind of life I had dreamed? With so many people in this country on anti‐depressants, my guess is that the “unhappiness” we feel is not from having too much or too little of anything, but rather a disconnect in not having what we had dreamed about having, being and doing.

If we really can change and do believe we really can, then why is it so many of us fail at these fervent but weak resolutions?

What separates the winners from the losers are the ACTION‐able steps to change the direction of your life and the belief that you can change the outcome and it begins with the power of compounding positive or negative steps to our goals.

Health: We all know we need to be more proactive about our health – that said, if you are younger in age, you don’t feel the same pressure to focus on a healthier lifestyle as those of us who are farther down the runway of life. Losing a couple of pounds a month can a good goal, but facing 20‐30 pounds at one time may seem unattainable. If you want to be healthier you’ve got to start MOVING. Walking is a cheap and simple way to get in better shape. Bottom line: start a new walking program with a friend or bunch of friends. Too cold? Find a mall – Too warm? Find a mall

Finances: Saving money? – Now there’s a challenge! Spend an extra dollar a week and you are out $50+…Save a dollar, well, you get the picture. How much time have you invested in actually seeing where your money goes every day? You might be seriously surprised to find many ways you can redirect your spending and ultimately your income. Look at the many entrepreneurial business opportunities available with little start up needed in both money and time to build your income.

Self Improvement: So you want to be better read? Get a library card and schedule a couple of hours a week reading away from home so you meet your goal. Perhaps you want to improve your language skills. Check out low cost or free programs in the local schools and universities and begin the path to becoming and doing what you visualized for your life

Social: Want more friends? Make some new ones. Learn how to be a better friend to others and you’ll become a better attracter of the kind of friends you’d like to have

Get a Coach: Can’t stay focused? Getting a coach can improve the odds of your getting where you want to go. Coach Anne Bachrach has no problem kicking your butt into action to keep you on target to get what you said you wanted. (www.AccountabilityCoach.com)

Excuses: We all are faced with crazy schedules, interruptions, no money, no time, no energy, etc. But as our good friend Giovanni Livera, speaker, trainer and master magician says “No Change? No Change!” (www.GiovanniExperiences.com) You can’t expect a change if there is no change in your behavior! There really are no excuses, but rather that we get lost due to our lack of focus, our lack of planning and the discipline needed to delay immediate gratification.

What if….you could really change your lifestyle, cash flow, energy level, improve your health, be a better husband, wife, son, daughter, or friend? We live in a land of unlimited opportunity! So dream a little dream and then let nothing get in the way of your having your best life now.

Terri Murphy is a leading consultant and communication expert on building relational capital. Terri is the President of Terri Murphy Communications, Inc and CIO for U.S. Learning, Inc. in Memphis. Fore more information on Terri call 1-877-211-642 or visit www.BrokerAgentSpeakers.com

 If you think it’s been a tough year, bad market and find yourself thinking from a scarcity point of view, you might find yourself believing that there is little you can do to get more business…Think again!

Before you go with “scarcity thinking”, expert Harvey MacKay gives us 66 creative and meaningful ways to connect with even the most elusive prospects.

MacKay is the bestselling author of “Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive”. He says, “Anyone can get the order if he’s willing to stretch the truth far enough. Whether you tell the truth or not, you don’t come out a winner just by getting the first big order. The mark of the pro is to get the RE-Order!”  That said, ask yourself these questions:

What am I willing to do to connect with a prospective client? (Or do I quit after a few attempts?)

Am I just trying to get another sale, or are their ways I can make an investment in a long term relationship?

In order to differentiate my service offering, by adding more value for this prospect by doing business with me?

A great lesson from MacKay’s book is found in Lesson #3 – He says, “Knowing something about your customer is just as important as knowing everything about you or your product”.

 MacKay was so passionate about wanting to know all he could about his customers; he is famous for developing his MacKay “66” question profile for each of his sales people to fill out on their customers. He is adamant that when we know more about our customer, we enjoy a huge advantage when they know we care about them, their needs and ultimately then we have earned the right to work with them.

All too often we fail the first step many high paid coaches, consultants and top performers knows and teaches:  Do a deep and thorough needs analysis of what THEY want, and not what you HAVE.  But first you have to get the appointment and be willing to accept the challenge of winning their business.

Asking questions and then clarifying the answers is one of the most powerful ways to establish confidence and begin building a bridge of trust between you and your prospect.  They want to know that you know not only what they want, but most importantly, why they want it. It is only when you act as their sales leader that you can help them determine what the appropriate solutions to their needs will actually be.  

Many times we approach our buyers and sellers with a barrage of self-serving information about our experience, tout top testimonials and are convinced that WE are the answer to their needs, when in fact, that may not be the case at all!  Regardless of your outstanding sales volume, negotiating acumen and years of experience, if they need a sales person who can speak Vietnamese, you may not be their best choice! 

The battle cry for successful sales that will never go out of style – RELATIONSHIP selling is the key to more sales. Ask well thought out questions, be a skilled active listener, and craft solutions with your prospects for best results.  You may not subscribe to doing a MacKay “66”, but knowing all the facts, motivations, limitations and best solutions for your customer will pave the way to create raving fans and endless referrals.

Bio: Terri Murphy is a speaker, communication consultant, and author of 5 books, including her latest with Donald Trump. She is the founder and Pres. of WomensWisdomNetwork.com and serves as CIO of U. S. Learning in Memphis.  email: Terri@TerriMurphy.com - for more information on the MacKay “66” visit http://www.harveymackay.com/tools/index.cfm

At every level of a service, care and concern rank as top elements for what our customers express when they describe extraordinary service. And in most  cases, every one of us prefers to have our needs not only met, but anticipated, which ultimately makes the outcome more impressive, and inevitably more powerful.

At a time in our calendar year when it is customary to “give” to others, it is apparent that when we authentically have interest in creating a joyful event for others, that the real gift is GIVING…which makes the “doing” part (service) the key.

Caring about a customer’s needs, or when you are genuinely concerned about the outcome of their using your products, can make quite an immediate difference in our success and ultimately our reputation. In today’s world of instant global commentary and reviews, it is incumbent upon us to be aware of how the consequences of that commentary, good or bad, from our customer’s perspective will affect our business going forward.

We’ve often heard how it is the “thought” that counts, and in many cases, that “thought” means so much more than any one thing.  The “thing” becomes the physical reminder that someone “thought” enough to give us some THING to show some level of care.

But at a time when we think about giving, let’s think a bit more about WHAT and HOW we give; Gifts of time, attention, follow up, and concern can be more powerful and lasting than an expensive gift or a holiday basket brimming with goodies.

People never forget the “time” that they were helped, assisted, guided, lead, referred to or connected with someone through someone that helped them get their needs met.  Think about being stranded on a cold snowy highway with a flat tire, and a caring passerby helped you out…priceless!

At the core of all good service is caring; caring that another person or company got what they expected and more.  In business, this always helps convert what might have been a simple sales transaction into making a connection that ultimately becomes a friend…and that friend refers you to their friends, and you know how that referral can grow.

Yet so many of us neglect the details – the extra call, the follow up on a simple detail that if missed could have dire consequences on the timeliness of a business or personal transaction.   At a time of the year when giving is heralded as better than receiving…let’s re-think how we give of ourselves, our expertise, our attention, our ability to observe and capture opportunities to be a better service provider, not just to get more sales, but to be the provider of great experiences for those we work for and those we love.

Caring is a gift that is never too big or too small and is guaranteed to always fit. It is a gift that everyone wants, and if you are lucky, is the one gift you hope is returned and re-gifted often!

Bio: Terri Murphy is an author, speaker, e-communication consultant, and author of 5 books, including her latest with Donald Trump. She is the founder and Pres. of WomensWisdomNetwork.com and serves as CIO of U. S. Learning in Memphis.  email: Terri@TerriMurphy.com

Wouldn’t it be terrific if you could fine tune your marketing strategy just right…to make it wildly successful… and provided an outrageous return on your investment?

In today’s marketplace, what it takes is a major shift in attitude to segue from self promotion– to being totally focused on the consumer

For years, we’ve been conditioned to promote our own success and the success of our company, but that focus does not resonate with today’s GenX/and GenY buyers.  For many of us, it is a  challenge to change from our traditional thinking where experience and highly successful histories were once considered valuable and respected to crafting marketing messages that favor the consumer.

What we need to do– right now– is to stop being “self” or company focused and change that focus to be totally all about  the consumer–their wants, needs and THEIR idea of GREAT service!

Today’s consumer is totally different from yesterday’s buyers and sellers – they are empowered with the internet, they have access to what was once proprietary  information and they now demand more control during the buying and selling processes.

Seth Godin in his recent book TRIBES helps us to understand that in order to connect with today’s consumers, selling and marketing as we know if have been replaced with authentic LEADERSHIP and communication strategies that engender trust.

So we need to stop trying to SELL ourselves and start helping the consumer buy into the relationship so that once the bridge of trust has been established, they choose to do business with us.

If your current marketing is not moving the consumer directly and efficiently towards the satisfaction of their wants and needs, then you may be spinning your marketing money and wheels in the wrong direction 

In order to connect with consumers, there are many changes in how the marketing message is delivered. Social mediums can work, but only if they provide a true resource of information to the consumer that is designed to build community and eventually a relationship. Social media is a mindset, not a toolset and should never be used as a “selling” medium and do require an investment of time.

Crafting a true consumer centric strategy requires serious attention to the real wants and needs of our target market.   Here are a few tips to help re-define, re-invent and re-fire your marketing messages:

1) Conduct surveys to find out what your customer is really saying they want and need…not what you think they need. Use www.SurveyMonkey.com for quick, easy and low cost surveys.
2) Initiate a presence on the 3 top social mediums that supports delivery of the type of  information and resources your prospects are seeking
3) Monitor your online reputation by hearing and responding to both positive and negative postings.  It is in the “listening” and responding that you create raving fans
4) Review your current marketing messages and switch the slant of the communication from features to benefits.
5) Add true third party testimonials to your web strategy using tools like YouTube and FaceBook to allow the customer to be heard.  Authentic testimonials beat your raving about your successes at being #1 in the marketplace..let them decide.
6) Initiate a blog site that allows for interaction and participation with your customers and clients. It’s cheap, easy and buried in all that chatter is valuable customer preferences and feedback.

When you differentiate your communication strategies by offering multiple mediums that are driven by customer preferences, and that serve all 4 generational styles you will find that the results provide for profitable communication. 

Terri Murphy, Author of 5 books, her latest with Donald Trump. She is a Speaker & Consultant can be reached by email: Terri@TerriMurphy.com or for more information visit www.TerriMurphy.com

Have you ever enjoyed an experience like this:  You meet with someone and two hours fly by and you can’t believe the meeting is over!  You still have so much to learn from them that you just don’t want it to end!

What if every meeting or presentation you were a part of ended like that? Would your second connection with these people be easier or harder to schedule?  Easier is the answer of course!

So the question is: After working with you, do prospects leave so energized, so pumped up, so laden with valuable information, tips, strategies, resources and inspiration that they can hardly wait to meet with you again? 

If your goal is not to surprise, delight, engage, energize and really connect with people you are doing business with, you might want to fine tune your strategy.

Today I met with a most amazing professional. Tony Jeary may not be a household name to you, but he is the executive coach of choice to the world’s top CEO’s and high achievers for over 20 years.  His clients include presidents of companies like Wal-Mart, Firestone, Shell, and even the United States Senate!  You can’t leave his presence without being so excited about possibilities that you need and want more…

And that is exactly what most sales people and leaders should aspire to….guiding those we serve to a place that shows our prospects and customers  how to achieve their own best scenarios to  attain their personal and professional success.

Whether you are selling houses, tires, cosmetics, or pharmaceuticals, your product or service must include specific components that ignite and inspire those we serve by providing solutions to their problems. Here are a few key activities to include in order to fine- tune your personal and professional interactions:

1) Be and sound ENERGETIC!  If you aren’t truly excited about what you do and how you do it, you will rarely communicate the value to another person.  Without contradicting your personal style, allow your enthusiasm and passion for what you offer be transparent so your prospects can engage with you and participate in working with them to provide solutions to their needs.
2) Invest in PREPARATION!  Want to really impress someone? How about having prepared a full spectrum of information about them and possible solutions to help their business available so they can see that you made an investment in them?  Too many sales people spend the bulk of their time perfecting their presentation, trying to “sell” their product or service instead of investing the time to get information about the prospect’s needs when preparing for the meeting.
3) Be a true EXPERT!  How deeply do you study your own product or service and that of the competition? Can you draw from accurate information and statistics to help determine the best solution for your prospect or customer?  People will ALWAYS pay for expertise.  Become an expert by investing even 30 minutes a day every day on a competency and you will develop solid expertise in your given niche.
4) Learn PRESENTATION skills.  All the information on the planet won’t help you if you haven’t learned the most engaging and powerful ways to communicate.  People connect logically and emotionally.  Logic will help them see the value, but emotions provide the actions to buy or not buy.  Study up on Behavioral styles and generational communication dynamics to connect with all four communication styles and age groups.  Invest in presentation skill coaching if this is an area for serious improvement.  It is guaranteed to pay off! (For a free report on the 12 biggest mistakes most sales people make, visit www.Fripp.com)
5) Be AUTHENTIC with your word. Nothing is more devastating than someone who shows up, makes all kinds of promises and doesn’t deliver. If you are not a systems person, set up checks and balances to keep you focused and on target with action steps and deliveries on what you promised.  There is no second chance when you compromise your integrity. It is a highly underestimated and powerful action that doesn’t cost in dollars, but in attention to executing what you have promised. 

Focus on these simple steps and you are sure to be the provider of choice and create raving fans and repeat business.

Terri Murphy, Author of 5 books, her latest with Donald Trump. She is a Speaker & Consultant can be reached by email: Terri@TerriMurphy.com or for more information visit www.TerriMurphy.com

It’s Customer Service Week…Really?

I have to ask ….What’s wrong with this statement?  Customer service week?  Does that mean we focus on service specifically during seven short days in October?

I must admit, I have never heard of Customer Service week, so I simply had to check out what I could find. Sure enough, I did a search and found out that in 1992 the U.S. Congress proclaimed Customer Service Week a nationally recognized event, celebrated annually during the first full week in October.

According to their website* this is a national event specifically devoted to recognizing the importance of customer service and to honoring the people who serve and support customers with the highest degree of care and professionalism. Excuse me? Where I come from, we strive to do this at every opportunity.

And I thought that customer service was, in fact, a principal driven activity based on the absolute privilege to serve and gratitude for the opportunity to service those customers and clients who I am fortunate to have work with me.

There are millions of providers for your services out there!  What are we thinking? 

I called my friend and colleague, Scott McKain, author of “Collapse of Distinction” for some insight.  Scott is an expert on customer service and the value proposition.  I had to ask him about his thoughts on what he thought about this one week phenomenon.  He said that having a customer service week is part of the problem. In the old days we had a complaint division, which morphed into the customer service division to handle customer dissatisfaction, leading us to believe customer satisfaction is an ongoing situation that calls for eternal vigilance.

He continued, “As long as there is a special “week” dedicated to the service of a customer, it is clear, we “fail to get it”.  Customer service is the cornerstone of how we go to market and how we have the opportunity to integrate our differentiating value instead of “adding” value to create that creates an exceptional experience

McKain pointed out we would never dedicate a specific week to “Good Product Week”…it’s ridiculous to think that our product or service would be a focus to be “good” for a designated number of days. 

It isn’t enough to be good or even great at service today in order to capture, serve and retain a valued customer….we have to provide an extraordinary experience in the process every time!

As long as we think that our service should be highlighted for a week, there is no doubt the customer will look elsewhere to a service provider who “gets it”.

For more information visit: *www.csweek.com/customer_service_week_background.php,
and www.ScottMcKain.com

Have you heard???? It’s one heck of a kick-off!

We’ve got over 12,000 agents registered for the Realtor University Webinar series starting tomorrow at 11:00 EST and WOW do we have a lineup!

I’m lucky to be the host for each of the six calls tomorrow starting with the most requested seminar seat in the series featuring former chief economist, John Tuccillo on the 2010 Economic Forecast & how you can prosper!
This is an amazing series featuring industry leaders:

Randy Eagar – Everyone wants to know how to build an Internet Marketing Presence through Blogging!  Expert Randy Eagar’s insightful presentation will tell you!  He offers the 20 Types of Dynamic Blogging Posts!  You won’t want to miss this incredible program and begin blogging like a pro!

The Dynamic Duo of Michael and Stacy Spickes have the full low down on “How you can successfully close short sales!” – They’ve got what you need to know to get a good solid understanding of what a short sale is and what you need step by step to get a short sale to close!

Amy Chorew is our Tech goddess and she’s on the webinar sharing “How Top Agents are Using VIDEO on the Web to Generate Business Now!” To harness this powerful web tool…be sure to check out what Amy has to say

Verl Workman, master sales expert offers the Top Ten Money Making Tools you can use in Real Estate. As a master coach, following his 10 steps is guaranteed to increase your sales.

And our final presenter is Rich Levin sharing 14 Proven Systems to keep your Transactions intact….and who doesn’t need that to keep those contracts from sold to close!

I can’t WAIT to be hosting each of these dynamic presentations! So be sure to visit: www.LearningLibrary.com/RU/Webinars and get registered for these FREE events! And be sure to get your $5.00 discount coupon for the upcoming seminars scheduled in October and November.

Terri Murphy, Author of 5 books, her latest with Donald Trump. She is a Speaker & Consultant and can be reached by email: Terri@TerriMurphy.com or for more information visit www.MurphyOnRealEstate.com

Terri Murphy

Timelines do improve service!

My long time friend Mary posted on her Facebook that she was holding her home open and was “hoping” for some traffic.

I know that my friend Mary is a HAIRDRESSER, not a real estate agent!! I just had to call her and find out why she was holding an open house knowing that her home was listed with a licensed agent.

Mary told me that she was excited to find out that in her small town the houses on either side of her property were scheduled to be auctioned off on the upcoming Saturday from 10-12:00, and she had called her real estate agent to cash in on the free traffic by proposing the agent hold an open house on that designated Saturday.

The auction companies had blasted the media with the date, time and place and she really wanted to “take advantage” of the free traffic in hopes of snagging a prospect to look at her property while in the area.

So Mary scrubbed, staged and manicured her home to be ready for this onslaught of buying prospects in time for the 10-12:00 appointed time for both auctions to occur.   She patiently waited for her agent to drop off the open house signs…..The clock hit 10:00, 10:30, 11:00 and 12:00 – and FINALLY the agent arrived…AFTER the auctions had occurred and any interested buyers were long gone!  She had no timeline in her daily or listing schedule of activities to be appropriately on time to maximize this rare opportunity in a rural marketplace, nor did she seem to share Mary’s desire to be visible during this rare event in their small town!  The agent had completely missed the opportunity!
This lack of service is frustrating and downright rude and creates the question: Why should a seller pay you a fee when you aren’t pro-active about marketing their property?
As a Realtor® professional and as a friend of the seller, it frankly disappointed me that Mary has employed an agent that doesn’t understand the principles of SERVICE! …Nor does this agent have a clue about what it takes in to orchestrate today’s marketing strategy that gets a property sold.

If you are interested in pumping up your service model to exceed the expectations of your seller and create true differentiation in your service model when compared to your competition, you might want to ask yourself these questions:

1. Have you developed a timeline of activities you follow when you take a property listing?
2. Do you share this timeline of marketing activities with your Seller?
3. Have you discussed with your seller the average marketing time and number of showings a properly priced property historically can expect in your area before going under contract?
4. Do you ask your Sellers what communication medium they prefer for their updates and showing feedback information?  Do they prefer phone? Fax? Email? Traditional printed mail?  Too many agents simply use email and assume this will suffice when your seller may prefer to connect by phone at least once a week or prefer both.  How will you know if you don’t ask?
5. Do you follow that timeline and communicate with your sellers what will happen on a daily basis from the first week thru the fourth week of the month so they are ENGAGED in the marketing process and can SEE how you are working to effectively market their property?
6. Do you provide a communication to that seller on a consistent weekly basis of what has been orchestrated in the plan you discussed at your listing meeting that shows accountability for your marketing actions?
7. Do you have a proposed revised marketing strategy after the first 30-45 days that might include a price revision, changing or adding photos, revising MLS copy to reflect any changes on the premises?
8. Do you counsel your sellers in advance about overpricing a property and how it can damage the initial marketing debut in their marketplace?
9. What plan do you have in place to adjust the marketing price if the property shows more than “x” amount of times but gets no offers?  Do you explain that having a ton of showings can simply mean the agents are using their overpriced property to sell others that have more to offer at a better price?
10. Do you also counsel your seller about offers that might occur in the first few days on the market so they don’t feel they have “underpriced” the property?

Many of these questions and concerns can be addressed when you first take the listing when expectations are high and communication with your seller may not be totally clear. Having a timeline of activities not only provides a framework for the seller to follow, but provides a structure for your services that they can monitor and you can show accountability for your efforts. When you can show your marketing efforts have been executed, it may be their pricing in the marketplace.

No one wants to pay for service they don’t get!   My friend Mary is already angry and disappointed at her agent’s lack of service that she EXPECTED and the listing has just begun.  Like any successful relationship, clear communication and expectations for services that we pay for makes for higher satisfaction from our consumer.

Consider using a timeline of marketing activities, get the sellers approval, suggestions and concerns and then deliver what you promise on time every time.  Bad reviews travel faster than ever before, so focus on making every transaction end by creating another raving fan!

Terri Murphy is an author, speaker, communication consultant, and author of 5 books, including her latest with Donald Trump. She is the founder and Pres. of WomensWisdomNetwork.com and serves as CIO of U. S. Learning in Memphis.  email: Terri@TerriMurphy.com or visit www.MurphyOnRealEstate.com